


A Siren's Song

by Kaillingme (Setty94)



Series: Greek AU [2]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Fluff, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Happy Ending, M/M, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-04 09:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10988097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setty94/pseuds/Kaillingme
Summary: Luhan is a Siren that falls in love with the human, Sehun.(Transferred work from another site.)





	A Siren's Song

 

* * *

 _ **Siren**_ : _(n)_ - In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous and beautiful creatures, portrayed as femmes fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.

* * *

_“They no longer wanted to entice anyone; all they wanted was to catch a glimpse for as long as possible of the reflected glory in the great eyes of Odysseus.”_

_-Franz Kafka_

 

 

A Siren's Song

 

♒

 

 

 

 

It was not often that a siren fell for a human. In fact more often than not, it was the other way around. And yet, as Luhan sat on a smooth rock beneath the surface of the water, he could not help but gaze longingly at the humans. With the water swirling around him, he could hear nothing of their conversation. Instead he settled for attempting to read their lips and when they traveled too far from the edge of the ocean he found himself sulking.

It happened like this every day for years and he ended up watching the humans grow older. He watched them play and laugh and fight and cry. He saw them at their best moments and their worst. He knew them better than he knew half of the other sirens, who joked around with him and called him a human sympathizer. But, he could not stop himself, especially when one of the humans was so beautiful.

The human, had clear milky skin and a smile that made his heart flutter. He wanted to be on the receiving end of such a smile, but he knew that would never happen. His own features, however, were not quite human. His mouth opened a little too wide and his teeth a little too sharp. His eyes were an icy blue that was so unearthly it would startle the human if he ever saw him lurking beneath the surface. He did not have a tail, like so many myths depicted them; after all he was a siren, not a merman. Yet his fingers and toes were webbed for ease of travel underwater. His skin was pale as the moon, from lack of sun exposure and his hair was a tawny light brown. He knew that at first glance he would look human, but upon closer inspection, he would not.

He waited day and night for the humans to show up once more, but it had been nearly a week since their last appearance. He was worried that something had happened. Another siren, who seemed much more accepting of his adoration for the human, waited with him one day.

“What is it that fascinates you so much?” Suho asked.

Luhan sighed and stared into the striking green eyes. “I don’t know…I just can’t look away.”

Suho looked up towards the surface. He bit his lip in thought and then sighed as well. “I guess they are quite beautiful to look at. Why don’t you sing them a song and lure them here, I’m sure they’ll taste just as great.”

Luhan shook his head. “I don’t want to kill him.”

“But isn’t that what we do? We sing our song and lure humans to their death.” Suho tilted his head to the side. A small pufferfish swam by and he plucked from near his head and petted it.

Luhan watched the seaweed sway before he answered. “Not this human.”

Suho shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.” He swam off with the pufferfish tucked under his arm.

Luhan watched him before turning back to the surface. He still could not quite see the two humans and decided to take more of a risk. He ascended and only let his eyes be exposed. Seeing through the air was a bit of a hassle so he had to blink several times before he could make out their shapes.

They were both on their backs pointing up at the sky, talking. The other human was describing the clouds while _his_ human was simply nodding his head and grinning. He realized he was holding his breath when he finally heard his human speak for the first time. It was more beautiful than any song he had ever heard any siren sing. In fact it was the most beautiful sound in the world. He swam closer to the rocks and climbed halfway out of the water to hear him better. The air dried his skin uncomfortably, but he was captivated.

He then heard him laugh and made up his mind that his laugh was even more beautiful than his voice. He found himself smiling subconsciously and rested his head on his hand. His eyes drooped slightly and he realized could sit there all day listening to him speak.

 

♒

 

“What is it?” Jongin asked as he poked the half drenched figure with a stick.

“Stop! Don’t do that! You might hurt him…” Sehun swatted away the stick and knelt down. He knew the creature was not human – he could tell by the webbing between his fingers – but he was still entranced by his appearance.

It was nearly midnight and he and Jongin decided on going for a stroll so that Jongin could show him the apparition he kept seeing near the trees. However, they were sidetracked by the figure laying on the rocks. His skin was dewy, and his hair was half dried, but he looked as though he was injured or something.

Sehun lifted his eyelid and then jumped back as the pupil constricted and the figure stirred. He watched as he slowly pushed himself up and blinked. He brought a webbed hand to his mouth and then suddenly dove into the water.

Sehun let out a small cry and peered into the blackened surface. “Hey…it’s okay, we won’t harm you.”

He peered over the edge of the rocks and dipped his fingers in the water. It was cold and sent a shiver down his spine. He frowned and then turned to Jongin. “You scared him away!”

Jongin scoffed. “No I didn’t.”

Sehun sighed and kept running his fingers through the water. His attention was on Jongin when he felt something brush against his skin. He peered down again and reached forward until his elbow was under the surface and frantically searched for whatever it was. He felt strands of hair brush by him again and leaned even further so that he was barely on the edge of the rock.

“I’d get back if I were you.” Jongin warned.

Sehun pursed his lips. “You’re right.” He pulled his arm from the water and sat back on the rock. He hugged his knees to his chest and sighed again. “They say these waters are inhabited by sirens. I never believed them, but now…”

“If I’m seeing tree spirits, I don’t see why sirens don’t exist.” Jongin added. “Anyways my friend isn’t here, so let’s head back.”

Sehun sighed again. He pushed himself to his feet and gave the water a longing glance. “I wonder how long he’s been there…” He turned to Jongin and followed him back inside.

 

♒

 

Luhan watched him leave. He could not believe he had fallen asleep out in the open like that. He guessed that the sound of the human’s voice lulled him. He pursed his lips and swam back to the cave that the other sirens lived in. When he arrived they all gave him a cursory glance and returned to what they were doing. He scanned the group for Suho and swam over to him.

Suho had fashioned a tiny leash made of seaweed and pearls for the pufferfish and was coaxing it into a small collar. He addressed Luhan without looking up at him. “Where have you been?”

Luhan frowned. “They saw me.”

Suho held out a tiny bit of food for the pufferfish and pulled it away just as it reached out to eat it. It was now two inches away from the collar. “And?”

“Nothing. They weren’t even scared. In fact I was the one who left because I was afraid they’d do something.” He watched as Suho successfully put the collar on the pufferfish and smiled a little.

“Interesting. And what of your human? Is he still such an enigma to you?” He tugged the leash slightly and the pufferfish followed happily. He gave it another piece of food and laughed as it swam in circles begging for more.

Luhan was so distracted by the pufferfish that it took him a moment to realize that Suho had said something. “Oh, um…” He could not even think of a word to describe the human. He was so incandescently beautiful that it hurt.

Suho shook his head and clapped him on the shoulder. “I see…well I must be going. Got a hot date with a satyr named Yixing.”

Luhan gaped at him. Suho always had a thing for satyrs, but he never would have guessed that he would actually snag a date with one, especially since satyrs were known for their fleeting desires. He sat down on the cool seafloor and buried his toes in the sand. He supposed that if he did lure his human to him that he would be able to at least see him up close once more, but there was always the chance that the human would walk away, unfazed by his song and he would cease to exist. That was another one of the traits sirens had. No human was allowed to hear their song and survive or the siren would perish.

 

♒

 

It was the day after Jongin had returned from his excursion with the tree spirit, that Sehun decided to pay one more visit to the ocean edge. His parents were sleeping and Jongin was grounded for staying out all night so he was alone. He stared out his window at the blackened water longingly. He could not get the image out of his mind and he wanted to see if it had been real.

He tugged on a thick sweater and a pair of boots to combat the frigid air as he silently got ready. The boots had extra grooves in them to keep him from slipping and he gave one last look to the water before he jimmied his window open and slipped out.

He landed on the ground with a soft crunch of leaves beneath his feet. Shoving his hands into the pocket, he made his way closer to the rocks that jutted out by the edge. He climbed them for a bit before he headed for the location where he first saw the siren.

The water near there was much deeper as the seafloor suddenly dropped off into a trench-like area. He had been scuba diving near there before, but his father always told him to steer clear of the area because those who went in never came out.

Sehun stared into the water at his reflection and creeped closer to the edge of the rocks. He squinted his eyes to see past his reflection and frowned. He could not see anything but the swirling of the darkened seaweed swaying in the current. The wind suddenly picked up and he hugged himself to keep from shivering too violently.

Nearly two hours passed by before he felt like giving up. It was then that he saw a flash of white beneath the surface. He leaned closer, on his hands and knees and gasped softly when he saw a figure dart by once more. It swam in a circle a few times, seeming to search for something and then looked up.

Sehun’s breath stilled in his chest. It was not the same siren he saw before, but its unearthly beauty struck him all the same. He felt inexplicably drawn to it and leaned even closer, until his face was nearly touching the water. It wasn’t until he realized its mouth was moving that he noticed that it was singing. While he could not hear it clearly, the intent was there and his body acted of its own accord.

He dipped his face into the frigid water and blinked his eyes when the siren swam closer to him, caressing his check before latching on and giving him a solid tug and suddenly he was sinking. The boots were far too heavy and his clothing weighed him down, but all of that did not matter because the siren still had a hold on him. He felt his lungs begin to burn and tried to pull away, but his strength was seeping away the more he struggled. His movements became sluggish and he saw dots on the corners of his vision.

He glanced up one last time to see the surface and let out his remaining breath of air. The bubbles streamed to the surface above him.

 

♒

 

Luhan dragged his body out of the water and stared down at the human. He could not believe that one of the sirens had gone after _his_ human. He turned to see the perpetrator disintegrate into millions of bubbles and then focused on the human once more. His chest rose and fell slightly and he worried that he had not saved him in time.

He waited five tense minutes before he saw him stir and then dove back into the water to keep the distance between them. He watched him from the water as he sat up and coughed, his entire body was trembling. Luhan wanted to give him warmth, but he knew his cold, naked body would do nothing of the sort.

He made eye contact with him once before the human scrambled to his feet and ran away. He blinked his eyes and almost called out to him, but he knew that if he opened his mouth, he would entrance the human with his voice, so he could only watch his figure slowly disappear into the darkness.

The next day, he waited by the rock to see him, but he never showed. Luhan figured that he may have been sick and hoped for the best. He had seen _his_ human get sick before, and he knew it only lasted a few days, so he would find something to occupy his time.

A week passed by, and there was still no sign of the human. In fact it seemed as though both humans were gone. He hoped that all was well with them and found himself moping at their absence. The other sirens steered clear of him in his depressed state. Even Suho skirted around the topic of the humans and instead brought up the annual festival that was coming up for all the inhabitants of the enchanted forest.

 

Luhan could not find it in him to feel even remotely happy. A month had passed by and he still had not seen his human. The festival was a few days away and he was still sulking near the rock. He had pretty much made the rock his new home and only left it once the sun had set to go and check in with the other sirens before returning to mope some more. It was the longest period that he had ever gone without seeing him.

The festival came and went. He met the other human, who was now a dryad, but could not bring himself to speak to him about _his_ human. Instead he learned that this ex-human's name was Jongin and that he and another dryad were madly in love with each other. It made him feel bitter and he left the celebration earlier than usual.

 

Six months passed and the family that lived in the house was moving away. He strained his eyes to catch just a glimpse of his human, but all he could see was his back. Somewhere deep in his chest he felt a debilitating crack of pain and when he touched his face, his fingers came away wet. His vision blurred and he felt more water leak from his eyes. Fearing something was terribly wrong, he slipped back into the water and sought out Suho.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“A lot of things.” Suho said. His pufferfish had died so he was holding the leash in his hand while he stared at the makeshift memorial.

“My chest hurts, and water is coming from my eyes. I don’t understand.” Luhan still felt the strange sensation in his eyes and his voice came out odd as well.

“You’re heartbroken.” Suho placed the leash on the memorial and turned to face him. “And you were crying. Normally we don’t feel the tears because we’re always underwater, but you never are anymore.” He glanced back at the memorial. “You’ve been gone for so long, that no one even knows you anymore.”

Luhan shook his head. “But I come back every night. I check in, I see how you all are doing and then I go back to wait for him.”

“He’s never coming back. They never do, so get over it. Find someone else to fawn over.” He bit his lip and turned.

Luhan could tell something was wrong, but he felt so out of sorts that he could only pat his back. His voice caught in his throat and the cracking sensation increased. Suho faced him and enveloped him in a tight embrace. Luhan could feel his shoulder shaking as a soft sob escaped both of their lips. They remained like that until they stopped crying.

Oddly enough, crying made Luhan feel better. He blinked a few times and lightly punched Suho in the arm. “Let’s find you another pet.”

Suho smiled sadly at him but nodded.

 

♒

 

_Six years later…_

 

Sehun threw his bags in the trunk and slammed it closed. He had finally finished grad school and wanted to take a nice vacation at his old house. He had not been there since the incident and he figured that it was time he returned. He felt bad for freaking out like he did, but after having time to think about it he decided that it must have all been a dream.

The drive was long and tense. The closer he got to his old house the faster his heart thumped. It was funny. He was twenty-six years old and silly little fairy tales still frightened him. He pulled into the gravel driveway and parked his car. He brought his belongings inside and tossed them on the sofa before peeling off his jacket and heading to the room he used to sleep in.

It was still the same. The mint green walls were covered with paintings of an enchanted forest filled with dryads and water nymphs. There were satyrs and mermaids and centaurs dressed in laurels and dancing around  large bonfire. He had always dreamed of going to the strange land filled with such creatures if only to witness the dances and to hear the music. But places like that did not exist.

No matter how much his old friend Jongin had tried to tell him such things were real. He knew they were not. That was why when he went missing, Sehun feared the worst. Plus, it did not help that he kept seeing Jongin’s apparition by the oak tree near his window for nights on end. He would watch him beckon him but, would never leave his bed.

It was why they moved. His parents feared that he had gone insane and figured that a new location would bring new beginnings and help him forget about the untimely death of his childhood friend. In his new home he made friends, but none were ever as close to him as Jongin was and so he threw himself into his studies. For a while it worked, six years to be exact. But now the doubts returned and he felt a certain yearning to come back.

It was twilight when he left the comforts of the house and strolled over to the rocks where his life had almost been taken so long ago. He grimaced and headed in the opposite direction towards the waterfall on the opposite end.

 

♒

 

Luhan grinned as he watched the half siren, half satyr toddlers play in the water. Three of them had little horns on their heads already while the last two were incredibly adept at swimming. He had agreed to watch over them while Suho and Yixing went out for a bit and found their presence quite enjoyable. They were adorable and played well with each other so he did not have to break up any spats.

After the doting parents returned he decided that a trip to the waterfall was very much needed. It had become the place where he went to reminisce. He had given up on trying to forget the human years ago. The only way he would get over him would be to keep him in a positive light in his mind. That way there would be  less pain.

He swam upstream until he found a nice flat boulder to perch on and let the cool water wash over him. He detangled the snags in his hair and hummed to himself softly. He let his feelings take over and soon enough he was singing aloud. He had no intention of catching anyone’s attention, so when there was a rustle in the bushes, he shrugged it off as a fellow woodland spirit.

“They say that the siren’s song is the most beautiful sound in the world.”

Luhan froze mid word and turned his head slowly. The water helped him focus his eyes and he felt a peculiar sensation in his chest once more. However it seemed somewhat familiar. It was a simultaneous squeezing of his heart and blossoming emotion. The sight before him was something of his wildest dreams. He brought his hand to cover his mouth and whispered, “You…”

The human took a step towards him. “Yes, it’s me.” He paused. “I had thought it was all a dream, but I guess it was real.”

Luhan stared at the human. He had heard him singing and now there was the risk of him disappearing forever if the human left. Nothing could be crueler than fate. He kept his hand over his mouth and whispered again, “What is your name?” So long as he kept the use of his vocal chords to a minimum, the risk factor would not compound.

“Sehun.” The human said as he ducked under the waterfall. He pulled Luhan’s hands away from his mouth and stared at him. His thumb ran over his lips and stared at him. “Beautiful,” he whispered.

Luhan turned away. “No I’m not.”

Sehun touched Luhan’s chin and turned him to face him. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead, so if I call you beautiful, then you are.”

The siren shook his head. “Not with a mouth like this, or eyes so frightening that you ran away. If anything I’m a monster and you should leave before that side takes over.” He could feel the urge within to seduce him with his voice and to taste his sweet human flesh, but he squashed the urge. He had no idea how long it would remain suppressed, so he wanted Sehun to leave before he lost control.

“I ran away because I almost drowned. I was in shock. If anything I’m thankful, not afraid.” He guided Luhan’s face towards his and ghosted his lips over him. “I need you.”

Luhan froze. It was too late, the human was under his spell and he wished he could go back in time and take it all back. Now he had two choices: let him go and then die, or kill him and devour him. He knew in the back of his mind that whatever choice he made, he would not be happy with the outcome.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the human scent of Sehun. His mouth watered and he could feel a song bubble within him. It was now or never.

 

♒

 

It was quite a common thing for a human to fall in love with a siren. In fact, what was rare was when a siren fell for a human. As Sehun dangled his toes in the water on the bright sunny day his mind traveled back to the first siren he had ever encountered. He could see the vivid blue eyes and tawny blonde hair that always looked so soft as he swam beneath the surface. He could see the odd way his mouth opened a little too wide, revealing sharp pointy teeth and hear the soft melody of his voice.

It happened like this every day for years. He would sit on the edge of the rock and wet his feet while he waited for him to return. Sure he felt older as time went by, but his memory never faded. Every time he saw Luhan’s cheery smile it warmed his heart and he knew it would continue to do so until the end of time.

A strange thing it was. Neither perished after Luhan sang his song. In fact it seemed as though Sehun had stopped physically aging so long as he heard Luhan’s voice. Perhaps it was the magic of the forest, or perhaps it was the age old cliché of true love. Whatever the cause, they never knew, nor did they care, for their days were spent in bliss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written: March 23, 2013


End file.
